WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary shot 55.6% in the second half and behind a season-high crowd of nearly 5,000, rallied for a 78-73 Gold Rush win over visiting Monmouth on Saturday afternoon at Kaplan Arena.
 
The Tribe (13-8, 7-1 CAA) uncharacteristically struggled from 3-point range, missing its first 13 from deep and hitting just 6-of-34 for the game. W&M though persevered mainly by shooting 71% inside the 3-point arc, including an impressive 11-of-12 in the second half.
 
Senior Noah Collier led four Tribe players in double figures with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Classmate Gabe Dorsey just missed a double-double with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds, while Matteus Case, who made his third-straight start, posted 11 points and five assists. Freshman Isaiah Mbeng rounded out the group with 10 points and chipped in five assists and a career-high four steals.

On Saturday, the Tribe celebrated the 10th annual Gold Rush game. As part of the weekend festivities, W&M welcomed back a large group of alums and celebrated legendary former head coach Tony Shaver during the second half.
 
Monmouth (5-16, 3-5 CAA) led by five at the half and increased the advantage to its largest at 55-44 with 13:05 left on a 3-pointer from the CAA's leading scorer Abdi Bashir Jr.
 
The Tribe ripped off 14-straight points as part of a 23-5 extended run to surge to the lead. Case and Mbeng sparked the initial run as the former scored five of the first seven points, while the ladder tallied three steals and three assists over a three-minute stretch. Mbeng found junior Kyle Pulliam and Collier for back-to-back lay-ups to pull W&M even at 55 midway through the final frame.
 
A Gabe Dorsey old-fashion 3-point play off a putback put the Tribe on top for the first time in the second half, 58-55, at the 8:44 mark.
 
The Hawks briefly pulled even on a Madison Durr lay-up, but Case answered with a top of the key triple to give W&M the lead for good, 61-58, with 7:55 left.
 
After a Jack Collins' jumper closed the gap to one, W&M scored six-straight points to extend the cushion to seven. Pulliam turned a steals into a fast-break lay-up, before Case found Collier for an easy bucket. Dorsey capped the spurt with a pair of free throws, giving W&M a 67-60 lead with less than five minutes remaining.
 
The Tribe cushion was just three, before Dorsey and Case knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to stretch the lead to it largest at 73-64 with 1:41 left.
 
Mbeng made 5-of-6 from the charity stripe over the final 40 seconds to preserve the Tribe's second win of the weekend.
 
W&M finished the game at 43.1% (28-of-65) from the floor and 16-of-20 at the free throw line (80%). The Tribe connected on 22-of-31 (71%) from 2-point range, and outscored Monmouth 44-32 in the paint. Defensively, the Green and Gold forced the Hawks into 21 turnovers, thanks in part to 10 steals, and converted those miscues into a 22-9 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
The Tribe used a 7-0 run to jump out to an early lead. Graduate student Malachi Ndur started the run with a driving lay-up that resulted in a 3-point play, before back-to-back buckets in transition. The second of the sequence came from Keller Boothby off a feed from Case to give W&M a 9-2 advantage just 2:40 into the game.
 
Monmouth answered with an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the contest. Bashir Jr. knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to put the visitors in front, 13-11, at the 13:24 mark.
 
Tied at 17, the Hawks used an 8-0 run to move back in front. Following a Jusitn Ray 3-point play, Durr drove the right side of the lane for lay-up to give Monmouth a 25-17 lead.
 
Junior Kyle Frazier hit a right wing 3-pointer, W&M's first of the game, to end a five and a half minute scoring draught. Cornelius Robinson Jr. though scored on back-to-back lay-ups in transition to push the Hawks' lead to 29-20 with 4:58 left in the opening half.
 
W&M drew within four, 29-25, on a 3-point play from Collier with under four minutes left in the half, and the Hawks led by five at the break, 38-33.
 
A Mbeng 3-pointer just over four minutes into the second half cut the deficit to 44-42, but Monmouth answered with an 11-2 run to open up a double-digit advantage. Bashir Jr. scored five during the run, including a 3-pointer at the 13:05 mark to push the visitors' lead to 55-44.
 
Monmouth finished the game at 44.3% (27-of-61) from the floor, including 6-of-16 (37.5%) from 3-point range. The Hawks connected on 13-of-16 (81.3%) from the free throw line and held a 41-35 advantage on the glass.
 
Robinson Jr. led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-9 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Bashir Jr., who entered the game as the CAA leader at 21.1 points per game, finished with 18, but was just 5-of-17 shooting thanks in part to the defense of Case. Durr added 11 points, while Collins had a nice 13-point, eight-rebound, five-assist stat line.
 
Frazier scored 9 points off the bench for the Tribe, and Pulliam added eight points.
 
Up Next
The Tribe hits the road to face Campbell on Thursday, Jan. 30. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. from Buies Creek, N.C., and the game will be broadcast on FloCollege. Fans can listen into the Tribe Sports Network with Jay Colley on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM in Williamsburg is the flagship station of the Tribe Sports Network.